Fixing a Broken Heart
by PCGirl
Summary: Follows possible spoilers from the show. While pregnant with John's child Natalie's life is threatenedwill John find out before it is too late?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Thanks, and dedication, go to Chantal on this story. I told her of this idea and she loved it-and then helped me form it into this story. Ya'll enjoy! Until next time-PCGirl.

Disclaimer: All characters are property of ABC/Disney. I'm just borrowing them and will return them before anyone knows any different.

* * *

Natalie's eyes opened and for a moment she wasn't sure where she was—but quickly realized she was in a hospital room. How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was she was leaving the coffee shop with Rex—him forcing her to try some horrid fruit and vegetable concoction—_It's good for you and my little niece or nephew_, he joked—but in reality it tasted like sludge.

She stared at the door and suddenly got nervous at seeing Michael walking into her room—he didn't know, nobody knew but her family—how was she going to explain this to him?

"Good, you're awake—I got most of your labs back Natalie—."

"Let me guess—my hormones are showing that I'm around 8 weeks gestation," she said dryly—praying he hadn't called John, she wasn't ready to tell him just yet.

"You already knew." It came out as a statement rather than a question.

"I've had regular cycles since I was in middle school, Michael—I've known for a month and a half now. How did I get here?"

"Rex brought you—said you suddenly had trouble breathing and felt faint. Is it John's?" he asked as she nodded quietly, not making eye contact with him. "Does he know?"

"Not yet—I wanted to wait until I had him alone, but lately his new buddy Marty is always in the office when I stop by."

"He needs to know," he said as he looked back at the chart. "Natalie—there's something else."

"What? Is the baby ok?"

"The baby is fine," he smiled at the idea of himself being an uncle. "There is a problem with your heart. The defect has probably been there since birth, it's not an issue normally, but the pregnancy—it's starting to put a strain on your heart. I want to keep you overnight for observation and then I suggest you just take it easy so we don't have to put you on permanent bed rest, ok?"

"Yes, doctor," she said with a guilty look on her face.

"I'm not just worried about you, Nat—that's my little niece or nephew you are carrying in there too now," he said as he thought silently, _and John will kill me if anything happens to you. _

* * *

"Welcome back, Natalie," said one of the officers as she walked into the squad room. It had been a week since she'd been in the hospital—she'd taken the week off and rested at Llanfair, spending most of her time sitting on the couch with her laptop in front of her researching everything she could about her condition.

The prognosis for most was good—seventy five of the women at some point in the later part of pregnancy had to go on permanent bed rest, and there was a 1 in 3 chance she would probably have to have the baby before full term. She would carefully go across both bridges as she got to them, but until then she wanted to work—so Uncle Bo had cut her hours back to three days a week, six hour shifts—cutting her back even more once she got midway through the second trimester.

As she looked up a smile appeared on her face, "Hey," she said to John.

"Hey—Bo told me you caught a nasty stomach bug."

"Yeah, it hit me pretty hard—I think I'll be ok though."

"Glad you're back—I—I missed seeing you around," he said bashfully. Honestly he'd wanted to go by Llanfair and check on her—but something always seemed to come up so he'd push it off, saying he'd go by tomorrow.

"Thanks," she smiled—as he started to go to his office she began to follow him—ready to tell him the news, but then heard Marty calling his name, asking about some consult he wanted her to do, so she sat back down—taking a deep breath before starting her work.

* * *

Natalie stood outside of John's door, thinking about the conversation she'd had with Michael the night before.

_"How you feeling?" he asked as he sat down on ottoman next to hers. _

_"Good. Being back at work these past few weeks has been helpful—though I'm getting scared. What if I'm doing too much? What if I'm putting myself and the baby at risk? Are you sure there's no way to repair my heart while I'm pregnant?"_

_"That's why I came by—there's a doctor in _ _Harrisburg__—her specialty is pregnancies where the mother has a heart condition. She can tell you more about the options than anyone can. Normally it would be a month before she could see you, but I pulled some strings—what are you doing two days from now?" he asked with a grin on his face as she jumped up and hugged him._

She'd packed her bag last night in anticipation of the appointment, and was ready to head down to Harrisburg today. She was scared though—more scared than she ever thought possible, and the only person she wanted there next to her when she met the doctor tomorrow—she wasn't even sure if he'd come.

As she hesitantly knocked she heard his gruff enter and opened the door, "Hey."

"Hey," he said as he realized she was looking better than she did when she came back from the stomach flu—she was almost glowing, he thought.

"Are you busy?"

"I've got court in an hour," he said as he glanced at his watch.

"Oh, well this won't take long. John—there's something I need to tell you. I'm—going out of town—I think it'll just be a day or two, but it might be longer."

"Is everything ok?" he asked absently as he looked for a file.

"Yeah," she said as she heard heels clicking down the hallway and so wanted to slam the door in Marty's face and tell John right there everything that was going on, but instead let the woman intrude on the semi-family crisis they were having, though half the couple didn't even know it existed.

"John—do you want to go over some reports before court?"

John glanced at Natalie—something wasn't right—and he wanted her to talk to him—to tell him why he'd gotten this sick feeling every time she had a day off or left early. But he thought himself as a cop first, besides—if it was serious she would have stopped Marty from talking, right? "Yeah—sure—you said you'll be back in a few days, right?" he questioned Natalie.

"Yeah—I'll see you when I get back," she said as she walked quickly out of the office and straight to the woman's restroom—taking deep breaths and not letting herself get worked up. He didn't know—so it wasn't his fault that he'd just pushed his own child out of his office.

Twenty minutes later she got up from her desk and looked at the letter she'd written. She told him everything—how she was pregnant with his child, that she had a heart condition and was going to Harrisburg to see a specialist. She'd even told him when and where her appointment for the next day was—in case he wanted to be there with her. She slipped it in an envelope addressed to him, put it on his desk, and headed out for Harrisburg—hoping when he read it he'd come be with her—not just for the responsibility of his child or to be her white knight—but because he honestly wanted to be by her side throughout whatever came next.


	2. Chapter 2

John flipped through the mail from his box in the squad room—court had ran late the day before and he decided it was better to just head on home instead of coming back to work. As he rounded the corner to his office he thought he saw someone in his office and walked quietly to the door—seeing Marty standing there at his desk reading a piece of paper, "Hey? What's that?"

She jumped at hearing his voice, "I was leaving you a note. But now that you are here I don't have to," she said stuffing the letter in her purse. "So—what are your plans for lunch today?" she smiled.

"I—nothing. Why did you have to leave me a note for that?"

"Oh—the note was about other stuff—we can go to lunch and discuss those things then. So what do you say? Lunch at Rodi's?"

"Uh—yeah, sure," he said as he set his coffee maker to run. His mind this morning had been on Natalie and where she'd gone off to—and when she would be back. It had been three months since they broke up, and he knew from Caitlyn—it took longer than three months to forget someone you thought you'd spend your life with.

"Good, well I'll see you later," she stuttered as she walked out of his office. She opened the letter one more time and skimmed it before finding an office and shredding the evidence.

* * *

Natalie couldn't help but jumping in hope every time the waiting room door opened and another person walked in, but as the time for her appointment drew nearer she realized he wasn't coming.

"Natalie Buchanan?" called the nurse from the doorway.

Natalie stood up and began walking alone to the doorway—fear creeping up in her and suddenly she heard the waiting room door fly open and someone say her name.

As she turned quickly she smiled at seeing Rex running into the room and grabbing her hand. "I couldn't let you do this by yourself," he said giving her hand a squeeze and hugging her, "It's all going to be fine—you're my hero—you overcame a childhood with Roxy, you can overcome anything."

"Thanks," she smiled as they continued walking through the door that the elderly nurse held open.

"Is this your fiancée?" asked the nurse as she showed them the room.

"What? Eww—no—she's my sister," said Rex, scrunching his face up in disgust and causing Natalie to laugh as the nurse took her blood pressure.

"Well, I'm glad you are here—we always need someone beside us in times like this," she said patting him on the back as she wrote down the stats and walked out of the room.

"What made you come today?" she asked as she nervously kicked her legs on the exam table.

"I couldn't let you do this by yourself—and I figured McBain wouldn't have the balls to show up."

"Rex—," she sighed. "He just found out this morning—maybe he had a case he couldn't get away from."

"You're having his child—nothing is more important than that," he said as the door opened and a young female doctor, not much older than Natalie herself came in.

"Hello, Natalie—I'm Dr. Causey," she smiled as she came up and shook Natalie's hand. "The first thing I always tell my patients is not to worry—the medicine world has moved by leaps and bounds in the past few years, pregnancy with a heart condition isn't as serious as it used to be."

"Isn't that a contradicting statement? Any heart condition is serious," questioned Rex out loud and both women looked at him. "Sorry—I'm Natalie's brother. I'm here for moral support and I just don't want her to be told this is going to be easy."

"It's not going to be easy, but if she follows the steps of eating well and staying away from stress then it should make it better for her and the baby."

"So what is the first thing we should do?"

"I'd like to start with an echochardiogram to see how well your heart is pumping right now. I also want to put a monitor on you for the next week—keep track of how your heart does throughout your daily routine. And we'll need to have weekly appointments—hold off surgery as long as it's possible."

"But is a possibility? What about the baby?"

"We will make precautions for the baby, but the main issue is taking care of you Natalie—without you there is no baby," she said as she squeezed her hand. "Now let me go get my nurse so she can do the echochardiogram."

* * *

Natalie walked into her apartment and put her purse down—it had been two months since she'd decided it was best to stay in Harrisburg. Going back to the chaotic world of Llanview, she realized, was the worst decision for her and her child. There was always someone or something causing anxiety there. So instead, with Rex's help, she had found a small—first floor apartment in a gated community outside of Harrisburg.

She walked into the kitchen, smiling at the ultrasound picture on the fridge as she got a cold bottle of water out. At the first sip she felt her baby jump, "Sorry, sweet girl," she smiled as she rubbed her stomach. Noticing the answering machine light was blinking she took a deep breath before pressing play—listening while she determined what was they would have for dinner tonight.

"Hi Natalie—this is Pam, Doctor Causey's nurse. She looked over your lab results this afternoon and wanted me to tell you she thinks we need to start thinking about surgery. Give me a call back so we can schedule you for the extra tests we'll need to run first."

Natalie closed the fridge door and grabbed the cordless phone while she made it to the couch—she'd told her mom she would call her when she heard something from the doctor. She'd tell her mom and knew it would get passed on through the grapevine of Buchannan's, along with Rex, Roxy, and Michael too.

Michael had come for a visit a couple weeks ago—and John's name had come up. He said John never said a word to him about his knowledge of her pregnancy—but had wondered once, out loud, over a couple beers why she'd ran from Llanview so quickly.

Hurting again over the loss of Tommy, and eventually Marcie, Michael had wanted to go off on John. Remind him that he actually _had_ a child—while Michael had only memories now—the last months being those of shielding both his wife and child from the truth. But Natalie had asked him not too—said his ignoring the situation was one of John's weird quirks of dealing with things, and as always—he granted her wish.

* * *

"Goodnight, Mom," said Natalie as she watched her mom walk down the hallway—the surgery was in the morning and she knew she needed to get to sleep, but her computer screen was on and she felt she had to write to John one more time—try and explain to him the decisions she had made. Decisions she had to make herself, alone.

_John, _

_I'm not sure how to write this—it's a reality that I've face everyday for four and a half months, but on paper it's much scarier. I am going to have surgery in the morning—I'm scheduled to go to the operating room at _ _7 am__—it's at _ _St._ _Gerard_ _Hospital__ here in _ _Harrisburg__. The irony of the patron saint of pregnant women is where I'm having a surgery to hopefully save our child has not been lost on me._

_I don't know why you never responded to the letter I left before I came to my first appointment. Maybe you were scared for me—maybe you didn't want the burden of a child—I'm not sure. But I hope if something does happen to me then someday you can tell our beautiful daughter about me—there are things you understand and get about me that nobody else in my family ever has._

_If something does happen to me and I won't wake up, I have signed papers that I will be put on life support until she can be born. Once she is born then they will take me off life support. I want my mom (Vicki, not Roxy) to raise her—she's a loving mother and I know she still hates that she missed out on my childhood. Maybe raising our little one will ease some of that burden. You can visit her whenever you want—if later on you want custody of her that is fine too._

_Just tell her that I loved her—and I did everything I could to be with her._

_Love,_

_Natalie_

Natalie attached one of the ultrasound photos to the e-mail before clicking send and powering down the computer. It was going to be a long day tomorrow—and she wanted to be well rested for whatever happened next.


	3. Chapter 3

John sat there—at his desk in the apartment just staring at the words on the screen. He'd been at a crime scene and come in late—ready to fall face first into the pillow, but something stopped him and he went to the computer instead.

When he saw an e-mail from Natalie in his inbox at first he wasn't sure whether he should smile at her contacting him or be upset at her leaving months ago without a goodbye.

As he began to read the words he was confused—she was pregnant? If it had happened that last time—the night they ended things—she would be at least five months, right? She mentioned a letter—he never received it. He tried to focus—that last time he saw her—he'd gone to court and then straight home. The next morning—his thoughts stopped right there—he'd found Marty in his office with a letter in her hand. She'd said she was leaving him a note—wanted to discuss some stuff with him.

He got up from the computer and grabbed his jacket. He didn't how late it was—he wanted answers and was going to get them now.

* * *

Marty tied the knot on her robe's sash tighter as she opened the door to an angry John, "John? What are you doing here? It's after 3 am."

"I want to know why you kept my child from me," he shouted as he barged past her.

"Keep your voice down—Cole is asleep," she said as she tried to act shocked at his statement. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. You knew—that day in my office you were reading Natalie's letter. The one where she told me she was pregnant—the one," he said taking a deep breath—why was he all of a sudden having trouble breathing? "Something is wrong with her—and you've known for months. She was talking—talking about what she wanted me to do and tell our daughter if she doesn't live."

"John, please—sit—you are scaring me."

John did as she asked and sat down, putting his face in his hands for a moment, "When Natalie—when she was making those decisions for me during my recovery it was out of love. And that she didn't want me jeopardizing my health. What was your excuse, Marty? Because I really am curious."

"I—I thought it was best for you."

"How so?"

"You were trying to move on from her. I couldn't see you doing that if you knew about the baby or her condition."

At her words John jumped up from his seat and walked towards her, "Because I wouldn't have and you know it. But in your sick twisted world I would ignore the fact that the woman I love and my child are going under the knife in a couple hours and fall passionately in love with you—is that it?" he asked, but didn't wait for an answer—he knew he was short on time and had to get to Natalie before it was too late.

* * *

"Mom," said Natalie softly as she sat up on the hospital bed while they prepped her for surgery. She'd woken up earlier and it felt like something was lifted off of her and she was incredibly tired.

"What sweetheart?"

"I'm—I'm so tired," she said as she closed her eyes for a moment. "I don't—I don't think I'm going to—."

Vicki cut her daughter off at the words she was going to say, "Don't. Don't you dare say that. You are so strong Natalie—you are the strongest of all my children, do you hear me?"

"I'm tired of being strong—I just want to sleep," she said as grabbed her mom's hand and held it tightly.

"Stop it," she said as the doctor came in and stood at the foot of the bed. "She seems more lethargic today than she did yesterday."

"We need to go ahead and get her into surgery—I know it's a little sooner than expected, but it'll be better for her if we go ahead," spoke Dr. Causey as she watched Natalie's face. Something was off, and all the doctor could think about was where was the vibrant woman she'd been seeing in her office for all these months.

"Ok, I'm going to go, Natalie. The whole family will be here when you get out of surgery, ok?" she asked her daughter who gave her a slight nod. Kissing Natalie's forehead gently she thought to herself, _Lord, please don't let me lose another daughter, _before leaving the room.

She walked out of the pre-op area and towards the waiting room where everyone was waiting. Hearing footsteps running up behind her she turned, "John?" she asked, half in shock and half in happiness that he was here.

"Why are you out here already? I thought the surgery didn't start until seven," he asked quickly as he looked at his watch and saw it was only 6:15.

Vicki put a hand on his shoulder and led him towards the waiting room filled with family and friends, "Let's go talk with everyone else."

* * *

John sat in a chair, his head down—Michael sitting next to him, "I still can't believe you knew this whole time."

"She didn't want me to tell you in the beginning—and after she gave me the letter she didn't want to pressure you into anything you didn't want to do."

"But she had to know. Had to know that I would have never let her deal with this for a second by herself. Have we really changed that much, Mike? So much we don't know what one will be willing to give up for the other?"

Michael sighed, "Tell her that. When she gets through the surgery, even before she's conscious tell her—she'll hear you."

"When I read that e-mail—it felt like she was telling me goodbye. I can't—I can't raise a baby on our own."

"You won't have to raise Kate by yourself," said Michael as he patted him on the back.

"Kate?"

"Kate Elizabeth McBain," said Rex as he sat down next to the McBain brothers.

"Kate," he repeated softly a few times, as if taking a sip of wine and tasting to see how it felt on his tongue. "I like Kate—did she know?"

"What? That it's our grandmother's name? No—I told her after she'd picked it. Said it was obviously meant to be." They all got silent for a few minutes until Michael stood up, "I'm going to go make a phone call that Natalie has been bugging me to make for over a month now—want to walk with me?"

"Sure," said John as he stood up and followed his brother out. He watched silently as Michael stepped away, pulling out his cell phone and hitting a number on speed dial.

"Hey—yeah, she's in surgery now," said Michael, smiling at just hearing her voice, "I've missed you too, Marcie."

He let his brother have a private moment and went to go find somewhere to have some quiet time for himself.


	4. Chapter 4

John couldn't help but feeling useless while sitting in the waiting room for news—he hated waiting on anything, but this was the worst. It had been awhile since an update, and he didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

As if on cue he saw the doctor walk into the room and all eyes were on hers, "Hi. For those of you that don't know me—I'm Natalie's doctor, Miriam Causey. The surgery was normal, the baby's heart rate stayed at normal throughout the entire procedure. My only worry was how tired Natalie seemed to be before we started. Sometimes I see this—but I wasn't expecting it from Natalie, and that still is worrying me."

"Is she going to be ok?" asked Clint as he held Vicki's shoulders.

"I think so—if she fights. The best way for her to do that is to be talked to—reminded over and over that what all she has to live for now. Just because she's unconscious don't think she can't hear you.

"These next forty eight hours are the most critical. After those we'll have a better idea as to where her case will go next."

"When can we see her?"

"Soon, Rex," she smiled. "They are taking her up to CCU now—you can head up to that waiting area if you like—the nurses will let you know when she can have visitors, but please—only one at a time," she smiled again and left the room.

* * *

John walked into the room—at the sight of her the drone of beeping machines was forgotten and all he could focus on was Natalie. He hated seeing her in a hospital bed, because more often than not, he was the reason she was in it. And this time, he sighed at the thought, was no exception.

He walked over slowly, leaning down and brushing her hair out of her face before kissing her forehead. Looking around he found a chair and pulled it directly next to the bed. He took her hand and just held it in silence before talking, "Hey. I—I'm not sure what to say. I love you," he chuckled at suddenly forgetting everything he'd wanted to tell her. "The first letter—I never got it. You have to believe me—if I'd known about what you were going through I would have been beside you every step of the way. That doesn't matter anymore though—I'm here and I want you to know I'm not going anywhere," he said as he moved his free hand to wipe his cheeks—not surprised that they were moistened.

"You have to fight Natalie—do you hear me? When this is over and we both get to hold our daughter in our arms then you can tell me to go to hell, or whatever you want, but now—while you are in this bed you have to fight. I don't know how I can raise our daughter on my own. And I'm not being selfish and say I won't, because I will, but you—you are her mother and she needs you. I'm not just asking this for myself or for your whole family that is out there in the waiting area right now—I'm asking this for Kate."

At saying their child's name he looked at Natalie's stomach and placed a gentle hand on top of it, "Hey—you don't know me. You're actually probably wondering who this man is talking to your mom. Well, I'm your dad—and I'm not sure anyone has told you this yet, but your mom is pretty amazing. She'll do anything for those she loves—and I know the second she found out about you she loved you. I know I did," he said softly and then just leaned back in the seat and watched her sleep.

* * *

_The rooms starch white walls and bright lights of the operating room hurt his eyes. The constant beep and hum of the machines around him were the only sounds he heard, except for the cry of a newborn baby from across the room. He watched as a nurse with a surgical mask on walked towards him holding her. _

_As he looked down at the pink bundle she placed in his arms he felt the tears well up in his eyes._

_"She's beautiful John," said the nurse as she removed the mask and he looked at Marty Saybrooke._

_He was confused—he looked at Natalie on the table from the c-section and suddenly the simple methodical beep turned into one long continuous one._

"No!" shouted John as he jumped up in the bed. He looked around and sighed at remembering where he was. Him, Rex, and Michael had returned to Natalie's apartment to sleep—he'd been awake for almost forty eight hours when Vicki had finally given him the key and talked him into going back to rest—that they would call if anything changed.

He got up out of Natalie's bed and grabbed his pants, pulling them over his boxer shorts and searching for where he'd tossed his shirt earlier. He'd slept enough—it was time to get back to the two people that meant the most to him.

* * *

John sat in the room, thinking about the crazy discussion he'd watched Michael and Rex have earlier during breakfast—or was it lunch—the meals were running into each other and all he could think of was how much longer until they knew something definite.

Breaking the silence he placed his hand on Natalie's stomach and, like he had many times already in the past day and a half, started talking to his unborn daughter, "You know—you've got probably the best two uncle's around—they've been arguing with each other as to who would be your favorite. My money is on the big goofy one, but don't tell him I said that," he said with a laugh and then noticed doctor had come in and was standing behind him. "Oh—I'm sorry—I'll go and let you examine her."

"It's ok—I just came by to see how she was doing. I didn't get to talk with you right after surgery—you must be John," she said as he shook her hand.

"You know who I am?"

"Not by face—but Natalie has talked about you."

"She has?"

Dr. Causey nodded, "We would start the echocardiogram and to take her mind off of it I'd suggest she started talking to the baby—Kate. She'd tell her stories about you two—how you met. Your daughter knows more about you than you think," she said and paused a moment. "Do you want to hear her heartbeat?"

John shook his head as he took Natalie's hand and rubbed it as the room suddenly filled with a fast methodical thump, "That's it?"

"That's it," she smiled and then her breath hitched for a moment.

At the same time as the doctor inhaled he felt the squeeze against the back of his hand and turned slowly to Natalie's face and smiled at seeing those blue eyes looking right back at him, "Hey—you're awake. Don't—don't try and talk," he said as he got up so the doctor could get to where he was. He leaned down and kissed her forehead like he had the first time he saw her in the bed, "I love you—I'm going to tell your family you are awake—I'll be back soon."

* * *

"Did mom finally agree to go home for a few days?" asked Natalie as she sat in her private hospital room. It had been a week since she'd woken up—and she too was ready to get out of the hospital all together.

"Yeah, but I'm sure she'll talk your dad or Jessica to bring her back tomorrow," smiled John as he took a chair and brought it to her bed.

Natalie just looked at John—she'd wanted to talk to him, about everything, but each time he would just shake his head and say not yet—not until she was stronger. It was Rex who told her about Marty—about how that was why John hadn't been there all along, and she was glad that was the reason—it had killed her to think he didn't care about her that way anymore.

"Natalie," he said as he took her hand.

"Yes, John?" she said as she placed her free hand on her stomach.

"I want you to know—I never would have let you go through this alone. The whole drive here from Llanview all I could think about was what if I never got to tell you that. I hate the thought of you being alone—staying up at night worrying about all of this, but I'm here now—and I'm not going to let you go this time, I swear. Do you forgive me for not being there?"

"I knew you wouldn't have left me. You've never left me alone before, I knew you wouldn't do it this time—not on purpose."

John smiled at her understanding of it all, "Good. Now I've got a second question," he said as he pulled a small black velvet box out of his pocket. "I don't just want you to be my best friend, or my child's mother—Natalie, I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?" he asked as he opened the box.

At seeing the box her eyes had filled with tears and she nodded as he pulled the ring out and she realized it was on a simple gold chain, "The chain is just until after Kate is born—the jeweler told me I shouldn't size the ring until after that."

"It's beautiful," she said as she looked down at the ring that was not the one his mother gave her after they thought him dead. "What happened to giving me your mother's ring?"

"That ring was all about dreams, wishes, and promises that were shattered the night of the accident. This ring is for dreams, wishes, and promises that are yet to come—and will come true," he said as he took it and put it around her neck.

* * *

_Three months later_

John walked into the apartment to see Natalie standing there at the kitchen sink, "What are you doing standing up?"

"John," she sighed and turned to look at him—she'd just gotten up to get a glass of water—to get out of the bed for a few minutes before he got back from work.

"You remember the doctor's orders," he said as he took the glass out of her hand and started motioning her towards the couch in the living room.

"Bed rest doesn't mean I can't get a simple glass of water," she argued as he handed the glass back to her, and then his finger trailed down the gold chain she wore around her neck and to the diamond that hung there against her skin.

"I remember this one day—I told you that when you get sick I would make sure you knew exactly how I felt during my recovery. And I'm keeping my promise," he said as he leaned in for a quick kiss. As he pulled out he felt Natalie jump slightly, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah—I think—I think I just had a contraction," she said as John jumped up and went to the bedroom to get the overnight bag.

Life for them had never been a simple, easy ride—but as she stood up and went walking towards the door she knew one thing—the other one would always be there.


End file.
